Total Nerd The Funniest Hacker Attacks Of All Time

List Rules Vote up the hacker shenanigans that most make you want to learn to code.

Internet hacking emerged as one of the major concerns on the World Wide Web over the last decade or so. Though hacking itself presents many understandable threats to security, hilarious hacker attacks offer examples of the practice being used for good, or at least, entertainment. Hacking never looks like the movies, but the funny things hackers have done definitely make up for that.

Though malicious cyber attacks certainly should scare you, the funniest hacker attacks only come with the threat of shortness of breath and maybe a few tears of joy. Sometimes, as is often the case with Anonymous hackings, trolling, not terrifying, is the main goal.

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The Vogue Website Was Filled With Accessorized Dinosaurs

One hack discovered in 2013 on the Vogue website, as well as others owned by Conde Nast, involved dinosaurs. Inputting the famous Konami code on the keyboard while browsing the site led to dinosaurs appearing across the screen wearing various types of hats and headwear.

To this day, no one quite knows who carried out the attack. Some suspect an employee for the company, as this would have made it much easier to hide as an Easter egg of sorts rather than a genuine attack.

Students Posted Fake Announcements On A News Channel

Local news stations often have a system in place for local businesses and organizations to announce closures due to bad weather. In 2004, one such system on North Carolina's News 14 suffered a security flaw which allowed students at North Carolina State University to post their own messages on the ticker of the news channel. Once a message got reviewed and approved, it could be changed without any further interaction from a member of the station. This allowed the students to alter the ticker to send rude messages directly over live television through messages that, technically, were already approved.

Iranian Nuclear Facilities Were Forced To Play AC/DC

Many suspect government agents and civilian hackers of attempting to destabilize Iran’s nuclear program by hacking into its facilities. While most of these stories fail to make headlines, one particular attack caught the attention of the media in July 2012 for its eccentric consequences.

According to reports, two buildings suffered from a hack that played the song “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC over the speakers non-stop. The music continued to play into the night and could not be silenced. The worm reportedly also attacked the automation network, though that probably felt less annoying to workers than hearing THUN - DAH deep into the night.

The Spanish PM Was Replaced With Mr. Bean On An Official Site

Anyone visiting the official European Union website for the Spanish Prime Minister in 2010 came face-to-face with a strange surprise. Rather than a picture of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, visitors instead saw a picture of the British sitcom character Mr. Bean. Newspapers previously likened Zapatero to the character, possibly prompting the anonymous hacker to carry out the attack. According to the authorities who ran the site, the hack took advantage of a vulnerability known as cross-site scripting.